Columbus Metropolitan Library branches have social workers on site
Libraries are synonymous with books, free WiFi, and now, in some branches, social workers.
Tyler Guminski, a 22-year-old Ohio State University social worker graduate student, regularly helps people at Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Hilltop branch with a variety of services that include housing, mental health services, utility assistance, unemployment, food stamps and healthcare.
“I’m trying to make a difference, and I’m trying to be someone that’s a positive support in their lives because I don’t know when they will see that again,” the University District resident said.
Since 2019, six Columbus Metropolitan Library branches have started having social workers on site.
At three locations — Hilltop, South High and Northern Lights — Ohio State graduate students from the Department of Social Work, such as Guminski, provide services as part-time library employees.
The library system currently has five social work interns through Ohio State, each working 16 hours per week. The library spends roughly $70,000 a year total on the interns, library spokesman Ben Zenitsky said in an email.
More Mobile Newsroom Stories:Columbus City Schools bilingual family ambassadors help bridge language barrier
Columbus Public Health also has social workers working regularly out of those branches, in addition to Barnett, Driving Park and Karl Road. Those social workers started working out of the library around the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Zenitsky.
Other Columbus library branches could add more social workers in the future, he said.
This move to providing social services shows the range of needs being met at libraries today, said Bisha Rumicho, the library system’s Life Skills Program coordinator.
“I could not even think of the library without social workers,” she said. “Really they are the backbone of who we are and what we do for the community because we believe the library is not only a place to come in and reserve books or meeting rooms or have access to WiFi. We believe it’s a place where (people) can come and come connect to resources and information they need for their day-to-day life.”
Getting things started on the Hilltop
The Hilltop branch was the first in the 23-branch system to have a social worker on the library staff. That started in 2019 through Ohio State’s graduate program, according to branch manager John Tetzloff.
Previously, Hilltop staff recommended that people reach out to the Ohio Benefit Bank, a service that helped connect people with state programs, among other services. It put an immediate strain on library staff when it shut down in July 2019.
“It was distressing because we were in the habit of referring everyone to the benefit bank, and they were great,” Tetzloff said.
He connected with Ohio State’s Department of Social Work, which places social work interns across the city, and a partnership was born.
“It was an instant success,” Tetzloff said. “It was the greatest thing that ever happened because our staff was increasingly getting extremely stressed by getting people who were in crisis coming into the library.”
Word about the Hilltop’s library branch spread quickly, and soon people were coming to the library specifically to talk to the social worker, Tetzloff said.
‘Trying to make a difference’
One of those social workers is Guminski, who started working at the Hilltop branch in September 2020. On average, he said he sees three people a day during his time there.
“I’ve built a reputation in the community because I’ve had other people say they were referred by someone I helped out a few weeks ago,” he said.
He works at the Hilltop branch part-time on Monday, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
More Mobile Newsroom Stories:Eight churches coming together to open Christian school on Columbus’ Hilltop
He recalls one instance where a woman came to him who was facing eviction last summer. To make matters worse, her air conditioning wasn’t working either.
He called around and found someone who fixed her air conditioning the next day. He also was able to connect her to other community resources that ultimately helped her keep her home.
It’s all in keeping with the fact that people go to libraries for information and to find answers — something social workers can help with.
“Libraries are stereotyped as just books and people who are nerds,” Guminski said. “But there’s a lot more there than that.”
Read More: Columbus Metropolitan Library branches have social workers on site